The present invention relates to an exterior aircraft light unit comprising a heat sink, in particular a heat sink in thermal connection with one or more light sources.
Almost all aircraft are equipped with exterior aircraft light units. In particular, large passenger air planes have a wide variety of exterior aircraft light units. Examples include a landing light unit, a taxi light unit, a runway turn-off light unit and a multi-functional light unit providing at least two of these functionalities.
Exterior aircraft light units may be provided with at least one heat sink for dissipating the heat generated by operating the light unit. The power requirements and space envelopes of each of these light units may vary as a function of external parameters which include the type of the aircraft, the respective position of installation of the light unit, such as a wing, a gear or the fuselage of the aircraft. Increased power requirements of the light unit result in an increased need for heat dissipation. This requires a larger heat sink providing more power dissipating (“cooling”) capacity. Larger heat sinks, however, need more space for installation, which might not be available in every configuration and/or mounting position.
It therefore would be beneficial to provide an exterior aircraft light unit that is usable in a variety of different application scenarios.